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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Another of Borneo’s unique tropical fruit, the Mata Kuching (Cat’s Eye Fruit) is a cousin of the Longan (Dragon Eye Fruit).

Mata Kuching – Cat’s Eye Fruit

On the day we went to the market in Serian, we found this fruit which we had never seen before. It was round, about the diameter of a dime, and covered in tough, bumpy, leathery, yellow skin. We asked the vendor what it was, and she said “mata kuching”.

“Is it good?” we asked. Oh, yes, she replied. She let us peel open a few to taste. The fragrance and taste reminded me exactly of longan (dragon eye fruit). I thought to myself, why not give it a shot? So we came home with a kilogram of these fruit.

The Eye of the Cat

In the Bahasa Malaysia language, “mata” means “eyes” and “kuching” means “cat”. The fruit is called Cat’s Eyes because when you peel off the skin and expose the dark seed under the flesh, it looks like a cat’s eye.

Peeled Mata Kuching

Mata Kuching trees grow prolifically here in Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo. One of the explanations for how our city of Kuching got its name is that the city started along the banks of the river where many of these mata kuching trees were growing.

According to International Society for Horticultural Science, the mata kuching is actually a close relative of the longan (hence the similar smell and taste). There are 3 varieties of mata kuching fruit which have “warty” skins and a 4th variety which is smooth and most closely resembles the longan.

The yellow-skinned variety has skin which feels very bumpy on the outside, almost like a lychee. This fruit with a large seed pit and very little flesh. When I found out how little meat was on the “bone” of the fruit, I was put off and a little upset at paying so much for so little edible meat. I ended up tossing the rest.

A Second Eye

Our friend Mike recently gave us some mata kuching which he brought back from Sibu, a town about 6 hour’s drive away. These fruit were the same size, but greener in color, and less bumpy.

Mata Kuching from Sibu

They also had considerably more meat on them, and were sweeter than the Serian variety.

Hungry for more exotic fruits? Click below:

12 Comments:

I think you should make something with this and ship it to me so I can give it a review! LOL Totally unfamiliar with this -- what is the taste like? Astringent like a lychee? Sweet like a cherry? Help!

Interesting. I thought cat's eye and dragon's eye fruit were the same. Not so! I tried the dragon's eye, or longan and thought it was sooo interesting and boozy. I just got some rambutans this week, but they are a little beat up - not nearly as pretty as yours. I need to get myself to Malaysia!

Wow, the diameter of a dime? Those are tiny! And yes, a lot of work to peel for something so little. It kind of reminds me of peeling crawfish. My husband gladly does the chore. Me? I think it's too much work for so little to eat in the end. Hah.

Oh yes!!! This is the true local variety of mata kuching that belongs to the longan family.I've learnt from my pomiculture lecturer that there are 3 types of Sarawak mata kuching, and the only variety that I can remember is the Isau. And I do remember that all looks thorny, and Isau is the best variety (flesh and taste).